Heroes or Villains?

[Emotion Flux]

Ok, so, I've been kind of wondering this in my mind. That is: what kind of anime character do you prefer? The heroic, save as many people as you can type? Or the villainous, bring the world to its knees type? I realize it's an oversimplification, but if you prefer to go into detail and describe what kind of hero or villain you like in particular, I think people would like that. So then, which do you prefer? Hero or villain?

For me, it more depends on my mood or emotional state of mind. If I've been hurt a lot and want to lash out, I like the villains. If I'm in a good mood or even decent mood, I prefer the heroes. So, I guess for me it's both, but not at the same time. Just dependent on my state of mind.

How about y'all? What's your preference in anime? The hero or the villain? You can go into detail if you want, like I mentioned before. I just don't really have a lot of detail to go into since it depends on which emotional state I'm in at the time.

[Animedragon]

4 hours ago, Wild Emotion said:

Ok, so, I've been kind of wondering this in my mind. That is: what kind of anime character do you prefer? The heroic, save as many people as you can type? Or the villainous, bring the world to its knees type?

I prefer the heroic save as many people as you can type. They don't even have to be particularly heroic, they just need to be the sort of character who cares for their friends and looks out for them.
As for the villainous type, I've known a few people in my life who would stab me in the back given half a chance, a couple even tried it, and you've only got to read the papers or watch the TV news to find the type who would like to bring the world to its knees so I don't really need them in my anime.

[Emotion Flux]

9 hours ago, Animedragon said:

I prefer the heroic save as many people as you can type. They don't even have to be particularly heroic, they just need to be the sort of character who cares for their friends and looks out for them.
As for the villainous type, I've known a few people in my life who would stab me in the back given half a chance, a couple even tried it, and you've only got to read the papers or watch the TV news to find the type who would like to bring the world to its knees so I don't really need them in my anime.

That's actually a good point. I don't think I ever considered that. Thanks for the additional perspective, it helps me not be so eager to like villains just because I'm upset.

[KaiyaSaysHaiya]

for me it depends. If we're talking villians with an emotional backstory, an understandable motive and a fun personality I'm 100% here for that and I'd choose the villain. However, if the villain is incredibly abusive, has a bland personality or is just overall general or not likeable I'm gonna choose the hero.

I guess it also depends on the hero as well, though. If they have a good and emotionally investing story, likeable personality and (again) a good motive I might prefer the hero. However, if the hero is generic, overly nice or way too much of an asshole I'll choose the villain.

I guess I just prefer characters with depth and meaning so that you can actually connect and feel for them. So, I'd either choose the hero/villain based off of this sort of stuff!

Hopefully this made sense, bc my brain did not like me when writing this

[Otaking66lives]

The type of villain that eventually becomes a hero...like Vegeta!

[Emotion Flux]

7 hours ago, KaiyaSaysHaiya said:

for me it depends. If we're talking villians with an emotional backstory, an understandable motive and a fun personality I'm 100% here for that and I'd choose the villain. However, if the villain is incredibly abusive, has a bland personality or is just overall general or not likeable I'm gonna choose the hero.

I guess it also depends on the hero as well, though. If they have a good and emotionally investing story, likeable personality and (again) a good motive I might prefer the hero. However, if the hero is generic, overly nice or way too much of an asshole I'll choose the villain.

I guess I just prefer characters with depth and meaning so that you can actually connect and feel for them. So, I'd either choose the hero/villain based off of this sort of stuff!

Hopefully this made sense, bc my brain did not like me when writing this

Don't worry, it made sense. lol I know the feeling though. I guess I don't look for depth as much as I look for characters I can empathize or at the least sympathize with, but it very much depends on my mood at the time. I really don't know how to fix that though.

2 hours ago, Otaking66lives said:

The type of villain that eventually becomes a hero...like Vegeta!

Excellent choice. I always love a DBZ reference. Definitely one of the more relatable characters in the series.

[MediaConsumesMe]

I like a healthy mix, so I like Heroic characters such as Artoria or Astolfo but I also like villainous characters like Kirei Kotomine and Shogo Makashima. I also really like characters who are walk the fine line between hero and villain like Reinhart and Archer. 

[Emotion Flux]

2 hours ago, MediaConsumesMe said:

I like a healthy mix, so I like Heroic characters such as Artoria or Astolfo but I also like villainous characters like Kirei Kotomine and Shogo Makashima. I also really like characters who are walk the fine line between hero and villain like Reinhart and Archer. 

Sounds like an interesting cast of selections.

[Clayton]

Villains. Withotu them the heroes would have literally nothing to do. Where would Snow White be withotu the evil stepmother? Where is Van Helsing without Dracula? Red Ridinghood without the wolf? 

 

 

 

[MediaConsumesMe]

25 minutes ago, Wild Emotion said:

Sounds like an interesting cast of selections.

I've watched a few anime now, but most the ones I watch generally have a balance of villains, heroes, the morally grey and anti-heroes. 

[Emotion Flux]

4 minutes ago, MediaConsumesMe said:

I've watched a few anime now, but most the ones I watch generally have a balance of villains, heroes, the morally grey and anti-heroes. 

I don't know about the morally grey. Anti-heroes I love though. As long as there's at least some redeeming qualities or I can relate to the character, that's usually what makes or breaks the decision of liking him (or her) when all's said and done, at least for me.

I'm glad there's so much diversity in this topic. More than I was expecting.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Wild Emotion

[Clayton]

10 minutes ago, Wild Emotion said:

I don't know about the morally grey. Anti-heroes I love though. As long as there's at least some redeeming qualities or I can relate to the character, that's usually what makes or breaks the decision of liking him (or her) when all's said and done, at least for me.

 

 

 

Oh I prefer the antiheroes with absolutely NO redeeming qualities. Desert Punk for example. 

 

 

 

Or the Black Lagoon Cast

 

 

 

[MediaConsumesMe]

47 minutes ago, Wild Emotion said:

I don't know about the morally grey. Anti-heroes I love though. As long as there's at least some redeeming qualities or I can relate to the character, that's usually what makes or breaks the decision of liking him (or her) when all's said and done, at least for me.

I'm glad there's so much diversity in this topic. More than I was expecting.

The morally grey I would define as characters who don't met the requirements of Anti-Heroes but also can't be called Heroes or Villains - so yeah like Anti-Heroes but a little boarder a term. 

[Clayton]

28 minutes ago, MediaConsumesMe said:

The morally grey I would define as characters who don't met the requirements of Anti-Heroes but also can't be called Heroes or Villains - so yeah like Anti-Heroes but a little boarder a term. 

That sounds like "extras". 

[Emotion Flux]

1 hour ago, Clayton said:

 

 

Oh I prefer the antiheroes with absolutely NO redeeming qualities. Desert Punk for example. 

 

 

 

Or the Black Lagoon Cast

 

 

 

I always wanted to watch Black Lagoon, but the family doesn't make as much money as we used to, so it's hard to get things like anime once a month like I used to. One of these days, maybe, but for now, I'm out of luck. ><

1 hour ago, MediaConsumesMe said:

The morally grey I would define as characters who don't met the requirements of Anti-Heroes but also can't be called Heroes or Villains - so yeah like Anti-Heroes but a little boarder a term. 

Ohh, ok. That clears it up more. Sorry, with my autism a lot of things require simpler explanations and reiterations of detail(s). It sucks, but processing things is unfortunately not once of my strong suits. Sorry though. But I do agree, anti-heroes like that would be pretty awesome to me, too. I just can't really think of any though. With all the anime I've got, there;s usually clear-cut villains and heroes. With the exception of Hellding. But I still need to watch Ultimate, though I really like the other version, too.

[MediaConsumesMe]

11 hours ago, Wild Emotion said:

Ohh, ok. That clears it up more. Sorry, with my autism a lot of things require simpler explanations and reiterations of detail(s). It sucks, but processing things is unfortunately not once of my strong suits. Sorry though. But I do agree, anti-heroes like that would be pretty awesome to me, too. I just can't really think of any though. With all the anime I've got, there;s usually clear-cut villains and heroes. With the exception of Hellding. But I still need to watch Ultimate, though I really like the other version, too.

Oh no man that's fine, I did look up Anti-Heroes and my god there is like three different definitions. Tragic Heroes are another interesting trope in fiction. Tragic heroes are those who no fault of there own find themselves destroyed and beaten down at the end of the story. So think Job from the Bible. Anti-Heroes are defined as an inverse of the Tragic Hero, often no born as a noble or important figure they are the low borne man. Who through there own faults end up leading themselves to destruction. 

[Emotion Flux]

6 hours ago, MediaConsumesMe said:

Oh no man that's fine, I did look up Anti-Heroes and my god there is like three different definitions. Tragic Heroes are another interesting trope in fiction. Tragic heroes are those who no fault of there own find themselves destroyed and beaten down at the end of the story. So think Job from the Bible. Anti-Heroes are defined as an inverse of the Tragic Hero, often no born as a noble or important figure they are the low borne man. Who through there own faults end up leading themselves to destruction. 

Thanks. Also, I never knew there was more than one type of anti-heroes. That's pretty interesting. Y'know, I just thought there was that one archetype of anti-hero that did the good thing, but also a lot of the necessary bad in order to kill who he needed to, usually when someone deserved it. That's why I love them so much. lol They're like judge, jury and executioner wrapped up in one. At least that's before I knew about the 3 different types. That's awesome, more depth than I expected. ^^

[Clayton]

On 7/27/2023 at 4:59 PM, Wild Emotion said:

I always wanted to watch Black Lagoon, but the family doesn't make as much money as we used to, so it's hard to get things like anime once a month like I used to. One of these days, maybe, but for now, I'm out of luck. ><

 

Buy used. https://www.amazon.com/Black-Lagoon-Complete-Megumi-Toyoguchi/dp/B07PXD7RSZ

[Emotion Flux]

5 hours ago, Clayton said:

Buy used. https://www.amazon.com/Black-Lagoon-Complete-Megumi-Toyoguchi/dp/B07PXD7RSZ

The thing is that I can't actually buy as much as I used to and not as often. I'll think about it though. But thee days I usually just buy games.

[Clayton]

It's $20. 

 

oh well. 

Anyway villain or hero it depends on your perspective. Take Dragon ball Z Super. Who are the bad guys?

 

 

 

 

Or Beetlejuice. technically in the movie Beetlejuice didn't do anything wrong. He did what he was hired for and helped everyone do what they wanted and they screwed him.